The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-28
TELEGRAPHING THE NEWS
How Events Ill Over the World Are
Gathered with Rush and a Flash.
The System of the Two Great Press Associa-
tions-How the Type Writer Recently Came
Into Use Among Telegraph Operators.

AHbo Co0 h'tohS OPo1oeVASs
The average newspaper reader has a rather
vague idea as to how the news of the world is
gathered with rush and flash, and presented
to him with the dewy freshness of the early
morning as he arises from his nights repose.
When the news OF some great event disaster
in remote part of the world is brought TO him
through his paper within three or four hours of
the occurrence he sometimes wonders how
it is done so quickly and 50 well,
but the newspaper itself furnishes him SO much
to think about that he doesn't take the trouble
to inquire about how the work is done. Even if
he should make inquiry he probably wouldn't
get any very satisfactory information, for the
men who do the inside WORK not of easy
cess to the public and they have time to ex-.
plain their system OF operation. During work
ing hours they are extremely busy men.
The of the world is brought to Indian
apolis by the Associated Press and the United
Press The franchise in this city for the former
is owned jointly by the Journal and Sentinel.
and the Journal has exclusive use of the United
Press dispatches. Previous to April i. 1885, the
Associated Press dispatches came over the wires
of the Western Union Telegraph Company, were
received by operators of that company, and de-
livered by messengers employed and paid by the
Western Union. On that day the Associated
Press having leased a line of the Western
Union, put in operators and messenger boys of
their own aud removed their business from the
Western Union building. There two
operators required to take s'press reports"
as these dispatches are called, one day
and the other night man. The day operator
goes to work at o'clock in the morning, and is
relieved at o'clock the afternoon by the
night man, who takes the report until the well
come figures ''30' tell him that work is over and
he may go home. tThirty"is a telegraph signal
that the days work is finished. and it comes
sometimes early as 1:30 A. NJ, but at other
times. when late and important news is coming,
usually comes about or before 3 o'clock in the
afternoon. Then markets begin to come in,
holding the wires for about two hours. The
operator considers this twohours' work the
most tiresone of the day, and equal to any other
six hours of the days work. He finds interest
and pleasure IN taking the news and has the
satisfaction of knowing the great events that
are happening long before they are given to the
less favored mass of humanity. The report s
heavier now than two years ago. and is con-
stantly increasing. It now averages from 20, 600
to %, 900 words every twenty four hours
For the better dispatch of business the collect
ing and transmitting of news the United States
is divided into CIRCUITS. The Eastern and North
circuit takes In the large cities-focal points
for news-of New York Pittsburg, Cincinnati.
Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit. Minneapolis and
St. Paul. The Southern and Western circuit
takes in New Orleans, Memphis. Nashville,
Louisville, Indianapolis. St. Louis and Kansas
City. New York is the distributing bureau for
the Eastern and Northern circuit the news be-
ing sent there, punched" as the operators call
it. and thence being sent out. Cincinnati holds
like position in the Southern and Western cir
cult.
The Associated Press employs in its collec-
ton of news the best talent in the country and
its operators are the most skilful No operator
is now employed who is not firsrclass and who
does not use the type-writips machine instead
of the stylus in writing out the report. In this
city the operator who takes the DAY report uses
the Remington typewriter, while the night OPP
orator uses Caligraph. 1t is easier to take the
report of these machines than to write
it out longhand. The labor is less and an ex-
pert Will finger the keys taking the report me-
chanically while carrying on broken converse
ton with visitor. The difficulty when the
machines were first introduced in reading
from the sounder and tracing the keyboard at
the time and distinguishing the communi-
cations that were given by the sounder above
the CHATTER of the keyboard OF the writing-ma-
chine. However, it did not take the operators
long to overcome this difficulty, and now they
can not be induced go back to the old long
hand method The report ordinarily comes at
speed of from thirty-five to forty five words
minute. Should the get in trouble and a
lot of news accumulate the sender sometimes
abbreviates amazingly and then the operator re-
ceives by means of his type writer from sixty
to seventy five words a minute. No sender,
if he uses the regular Morse alphabet, can send
as rapidly as the typewriter manipulation can
take. The men are expected to take the reports
with few breaks. Each break is charged to the
Office a making o,.h IT. ,a at the s sending
them, and sent over the entire circuit. so that
each man may know what his record is. There
is penalty for breaks, but this is done to
avoid delays and keep the service per-
feet as possible.
To the Associated Press belongs the credit
of introducing the typewriter into Geographic
work. When the change suggested, oper
ators did not think it was practicable and there
much murmuring. A telegraph operator
who had become proficient in receiving by means
of type writer, John A. Payne, of Nashville.
Tenn, was sent out to the cities on the West
ern and Southern circuit to show
the operators how the thing was
done The association said ali their operators
should be ty7e-writers. and offered ,emium
of $50 to the operator who would show the most
proficiency at the end of three months, and $25
to the next best operator. George Alihands, of
louisville, took first prize, and man named
Williams. at Pttsburg, took second. The pro-
ficiency achieved in three months by the keen
cared. quck-eyed, bright-wi.ted operators all
along the line some thing astonishing. The
Associated Press pays it's operators well, and
they envied by other telegraphers who are
inclined to look upon them as highly favored
persons.
The United Press Association was established
in 1882 1t was formerly the National Asso-
ciated Press. When the Indianapolis Times was
established it took these dispatches They then
came to this city over the Western Union cir
cult, but since March /, 1855, the dispatches
have come on a leased line. The operator &C.
cupies room in the Journal building in easy
communication with the telegraph editor The
United Press. with its facilities for gathering
and transmitting news, covers the entire coun-
try. New York is the great collecting and dis
tributing point from where it is forwarded to
Chicago for the Western circuit. The
operator at indianapolis mot supplying any day
report) begins work at o'clock in the afternoon
and works until about o'clock next morning,
receiving in that time about 10000 words. A
distinguishing feature of the report furnished by
the United Press is It's brief, condensed form.
The matter is iudiciously edited and in this
respect differs from crude reporting as dressed
beef differs from cattle the hoof. The cable
service is particularly good, and in this the
citation takes great pride. Tho merits of this
ass ation have brOuObt to 1t a list of
papers whose aggregate circulation exceeds four
million copies daily. and its news facilities are
continually improving.